My wife lived and worked in the USA for 20 years.We are now retired and live here in Thailand she collects SS,and her money is direct deposited in our bank account in the USA.Can she still collect SS or does she forfit this since she lives here full time.We are not going back to the US.She was in the US with a green card all legal.Haven't talked to the consulate or SS yet.Thought I'd run it by the forum first.

I dont live in the usa and i am collecting SS and they are aware of it. they deposit it in my account where I live.

Do you mean what the UK would refer to as  aged pension ??.....If so most of the Americans I know here are retired & collecting SS......Some have even started new families since being here, so have had an increase in their SS.

There is nothing wrong with collecting social security while living in a foreign country.  It regularly occurs.

 

 

Edited August 3, 201411 yr by metisdead
Off topic comments removed.

I know I can collect my SS,but can my Thai wife collect hers,after being out of the USA for 9 months

I should have thought a little bit more on the title to the thread I guess

It's a good question.  The OP's wife is not a US citizen and is also not now living in the US. 

 

I could not find an answer on the SSA website.

 

My guess is you will have to go to the US embassy for a valid answer.

Edited August 3, 201411 yr by mesquite

I know I can collect my SS,but can my Thai wife collect hers,after being out of the USA for 9 months

i'm not an american and have been out of the usa for decades and collect each month

Social security is independent of citizenship. SS is based upon whether you paid into the system not whether you are a U.S. citizen.  

 

It's a good question.  The OP's wife is not a US citizen and is also not now living in the US. 

 

I could not find an answer on the SSA website.

 

My guess is you will have to go to the US embassy for a valid answer.

neither am I  and I collect

 

It's a good question.  The OP's wife is not a US citizen and is also not now living in the US. 

 

I could not find an answer on the SSA website.

 

My guess is you will have to go to the US embassy for a valid answer.

neither am I  and I collect

 

 

Yes.  You wrote that info after I had posted.

Thats what I thought when we moved here to Thailand,so I set up the direct deposit to our bank acc. in the states.And looking in to it a little further[which I should have done before]she will lose her green card after being out of the US after 6 mo.and her right to collect her SS.This is what I'm now checking on.

Thats what I thought when we moved here to Thailand,so I set up the direct deposit to our bank acc. in the states.And looking in to it a little further[which I should have done before]she will lose her green card after being out of the US after 6 mo.and her right to collect her SS.This is what I'm now checking on.

she wont lose her right to collect

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/international/payments_outsideUS.html

She can collect but needs to report her Thai address to the SS office in Manila.

They send a form once a year. I think it is their way to make sure she is still alive.

She can continue to have it go to her US account or change to Bangkok bank.

Edited August 3, 201411 yr by BKKSnowBird

Was kinda hoping your wife bought a sick SS, but apparently an SS in America is something else. 

 

Kind of afraid to ask what a sick SS is.It can mean a couple things in the states

She can collect but needs to report her Thai address to the SS office in Manila.

They send a form once a year. I think it is their way to make sure she is still alive.

She can continue to have it go to her US account or change to Bangkok bank.

 

Excellent points. I tried for a year to get my mom's address changed to here.  The SS office in the US was worthless.  Manila responded in day and took care of the change.

 

It is a big deal to make sure you get your mail.  That statement you need to sign every year to prove you are still alive is important.  If you miss it, I've heard it's hard to get your payments started again.

Sorry, cannot resist throwing in an off topic post here. For an American the meaning of SS is clear, but for me as a European who grew up in the shadow of the Second World War, the acronym has quite a different meaning. I expected a post complaining about the family in law forcefully trying to impose a rigorous set of rules on the OP, and him becoming so exasperated that he started referring to them as the Thai wife's SS.

 

Again sorry Americans, just carry on with this (apart from my contribution) highly informative thread.

 

Edited August 3, 201411 yr by keestha

thought the SS headquarter has been in Berlin and not in the USandA...